A publication--SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) paper 960991--describes a conventional electrohydraulic braking system, in which a driver braking input is derived from the actuation of the brake pedal by the driver. This braking input is converted, in view of further operating variables, into setpoint brake pressures for the individual wheel brakes. The setpoint braking pressures are adjusted for each wheel by closed pressure-control loops on the basis of the predefined setpoint pressure, and of the actual brake pressure measured in the area of the wheel brake. In such braking systems, the braking force at the wheels is adjusted on the basis of electrically controllable valve arrangements as a function of the driver braking input. In this context, special attention must be given to the performance reliability and availability of the system. Therefore, in the above-described publication, during the initialization of the braking system, a so-called predrive check is carried out, during which brake pressure is built up in the wheel brakes and compared to sensor information. A particular form of this predrive check is not described.
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide measures for check-testing a braking system within the framework of a predrive check, by which all necessary components of the braking system can be tested for a correct method of functioning.